Philomen Probert

Philomen Probert (born 1973) is a British classicist and academic, specialising in linguistics. She is Professor of Classical Philology and Linguistics at the University of Oxford.

Early life and education Probert was born in 1973 in London, England. From 1991 to 1995, she studied Literae Humaniores (i.e. classics) at Exeter College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. Remaining at Exeter College, she undertook postgraduate studies in general linguistics and comparative philology, completing her Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in 1997. Her doctoral thesis won the 2002 Conington Prize from the Faculty of Classics.

Academic career In 1999, Probert was appointed lecturer in Classical Philology and Linguistics at the University of Oxford and elected a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. In 2011 she received a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship to continue this research. In September 2016, she was awarded a Title of Distinction as Professor of Classical Philology and Linguistics. She was the Acting President of Wolfson College between October 2017 and April 2018. In 2024, she was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy.

Her research is focused on Ancient Greek, Latin, Anatolian and Indo-European linguistics, and the Graeco-Roman grammatical tradition.

Personal life Probert entered a civil partnership with Eleanor Dickey in 2008, and they have since been married.

Selected works